


P.S. Happy Birthday

by Miracles_happen



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Canon Compliant, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hugs, Iko is a legend, Jacinter, Long-Distance Friendship, Long-Distance Relationship, Miscommunication, No Smut, Winter Solstice, Wolflet, cresswell, kaider, kinder - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 18:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17833739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miracles_happen/pseuds/Miracles_happen
Summary: Cinder's kinda a sad gorl on Luna leading up to the Winter Solstice when she can finally see Kai and the Rampion gang after months.





	P.S. Happy Birthday

Cinder sighed as soon as she left the meeting room, finally released from the hours of meetings about how the antidotes were being distributed and monarchy dissolved. She walked along the halls of the Lunar Palace, ready to collapse straight into her bed. She went through her recent messages on her retina display, as she did every day after her meetings. Cinder read through updates sent by Kinney, and a BuzzFeed article sent by Iko. 

She smiled softly as she read the headline, “20 Reasons Why Linh Cinder and Emperor Kai are Relationship Goals.” In the one time that Cinder had been to Earth for a ball and the rumors spread via netfeeds, the people of both Earth and Luna had grown to ship her and Kai a lot. Not that she was complaining, but it did seem… weird that so many strangers knew so much about her. Maybe that was just because she was used to being an unknown mechanic and not a beloved queen of a moon. Kai didn’t seem to mind, at least from the outside.

Cinder got to her room and promptly flopped on the bed. It was giant and soft, freshly made because of the servants. Cinder had wanted to dismiss them, but they had all protested, saying that it was their pleasure to serve her. After resting for a few minutes, she walked to the dining hall for dinner.

“Hello, your Majesty,” Kinney said from the table, curtly nodding. Cinder was usually joined by him and Iko for dinner. Occasionally, they ate with Cinder’s head thaumaturges, but not tonight, apparently.

“I told you that you don’t need to call me that,” Cinder replied, sitting into her usual spot at the front of the table, “Cinder or Selene is fine.” Kinney rolled his eyes. “Do you know if Iko is on her way?” It was a formality that the two of them didn’t start without Iko, even if she couldn’t eat. 

“She messaged me recently that she was on her way, just caught up with business for the Winter Solstice.” Stars, the Winter Solstice. Kai was coming to Luna for the holiday because it was a big event. Apparently, it was Torin’s idea to make a show of unity between the two unions by Kai’s visit. Even though this was the reason the media believed that Kai was coming to Luna, Cinder knew it was really because it was her birthday. She had let it slip one day on their almost daily calls that she had never really celebrated her birthday, what with Adri always making her feel inferior and inhuman. Kai had immediately jumped at this and vowed that she would always spend her birthdays with him. Cinder had laughed and told him that it wasn’t worth all the trouble, but really, she couldn’t wait until he was here. Life on Luna was very lonely. Sure, she had Iko and Kinney, but they were always busy. If she was being real with herself, Cinder just wanted a hug. With being queen came a lot of stress, and Cinder really had no time to relax. Her nights were always filled with nightmares of the war and life before she was a cyborg. There were really no options for human contact on Luna. The only human she was close with on Luna that she even could come close to hugging was Kinney, but he was really secretive and closed-off. Iko never hesitated to hug Cinder, but it really wasn’t the same as Kai.

“Hi, guys, sorry to keep you waiting,” Iko chirped, prancing into the dining hall. She was wearing an uncomfortable-looking dress as she plopped into the chair beside Cinder and across from Kinney. The chefs quickly came out of the doors and placed the meal in front of the three of them and gave Cinder and Kinney their plates and silverware. Iko rolled her eyes as Kinney and Cinder started to pile food onto their plates and begin eating. “Cinder, have you seen the new posts on the Kaider blog?” Cinder heard Kinney scoff. Ever since Iko discovered it, she hadn’t stopped talking about the blog that was apparently “the official shipping blog of Linh Cinder and Emperor Kai.” 

“No, Iko, surprisingly I don’t stalk the blog on my own relationship,” Cinder responded, digging into her mashed potatoes.

“Well, you should,” Iko replied, “anyway, apparently Kai has sent a birthday gift to you.” Cinder choked on her potatoes.

“What?” she coughed.

“Yeah, they found your birthday through your database, and now they’re saying the only reason Kai is coming to Luna is because of your birthday, which is probably true, but at the same time, the festival is--”

“Iko,” Cinder stopped her, recovering from her coughing attack, “I don’t care that they know my birthday. Why would Kai get me a gift.”

“Well traditionally, that’s what people give on someone’s birthday,” Iko deadpanned. 

“Yeah, but on the birthday.” Cinder sighed frustratedly.

“Maybe he’s getting you something over the top and doesn’t want to see your reaction,” Kinney said from his side of the table, examining a carrot. He almost always kept quiet, so it was odd hearing him talk during dinner. 

“Oh my stars, if he gets me a diamond necklace or something, I swear I’m gonna kill--”

“Your Majesty.” Cinder was interrupted by a castle worker coming in with a package. They held it out, eyeing the table laden with food. 

“I got it,” Cinder said, standing up and taking the package. It was medium sized, definitely the package size of a giant necklace. Cinder glanced at Iko on the way to get the package, raising her eyebrows. Cinder took the package, surprised at how light it was. She set it down on the clean part of the table. She opened it to find…

“A sweatshirt?” Iko asked, hovering over Cinder’s shoulder to peer into the box. Indeed, a grey hoodie lay in the box, neatly folded. It took Cinder a moment, but she quickly recognized it as the hoodie Kai wore when they first met. Cinder held a hand over her mouth. If she could cry, she would be sobbing right now. Not only had Kai remembered their first meeting enough to remember the sweatshirt, but he had gone through the trouble to find it and sent it to her. Cinder gingerly picked it up and held it out. It would be a little bit big due to her smaller frame, but she could manage. 

“Wait, no, Cinder, your…” Iko started as Cinder put on the hoodie, “blouse.” The hoodie was so warm and fuzzy, most likely due to the fact that Kai couldn’t really wear hoodies that often. Even though she couldn’t really feel the sweatshirt over her blouse, she still felt the weight of it, and just the feel of Kai. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling as if Kai himself were there hugging her. And for once, in all the months of stress and nightmares and pressure, Cinder felt content.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and kudos!!! <3


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